Product Recall: Noxzema
Welcome to Product Recall, a weekly episode where we dig deeper into the history of an iconic product and its cultural impact. For our inaugural episode, Kate and Doree discuss the legendary, one-hundred-year-old face cleanser, Noxzema.
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Transcript
Kate: Hello, and welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Kate Spencer. And
Doree: I'm Doree Shafrir.
Kate: And we're not experts.
Doree: No. We're two friends who like to talk a lot about serums, and
Kate: Today we are offering up something a little new and a little different. We are bringing you a new episode called Product Recall. This is a weekly episode where we dig deeper into the history of an iconic product and it's impact. And it will be coming to you every Friday here on Forever35.
Doree: Oh yeah.
Kate: Oh yeah. And yes, we are taking requests. If there is something you want us to dig into, a product you want us to recall for you,
Doree: If you will,
Kate: Please reach out to us. As always, you can contact us via voicemail or texted at (781) 591-0390. You can also email us or leave us a voice memo at Forever35podcast@gmail.com.
Doree: And I also just want to note that you can go to our website Forever35podcast.com, where we will have links to everything that we talk about on these episodes. So if you're looking for the sources or anything else,
Kate: videos, videos too,
Doree: you can go check those out on our website. So Kate, what are we talking about today?
Kate: All right. For our first product recall, I am bringing you what I view as an icon.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: And we should tell listeners that the way we have decided to do this for now, this is also an experiment
Doree: Totally
Kate: It could change, but we are each taking on a product and sharing it with the other. So while the other person may be familiar with the product, you don't know what we know.
Doree: I can't wait to learn what, you know,
Kate: You have not sat here and poured over the amount of YouTube commercials that I have over the last week for this product.
Doree: So no, I haven't.
Kate: I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to be presenting Noxzema to you. Doree.
Doree: Noxzema
Kate: So, Here's what I wanted to ask you.
Doree: Okay? Yes. I'm listening.
Kate: What words, just off the top of your head
Doree: Yes.
Kate: Come to mind when you hear Noxzema.
Doree: Mm. Creamy. drugstore.
Kate: Okay. Okay. That's a good one.
Doree: Cleansing. That's kind of what I've got.
Kate: A creamy cleanser that you can get at a drugstore.
Doree: Yeah.
Kate: Well, that does sum it up very succinctly.
Doree: Okay. Thank you.
Kate: What's so interesting about you mentioning Creamy is that that is a word that comes up over and over in its marketing and advertising for decades, and we'll get into it. But one of the things that has blown me away about learning in depth about Noxzema, which is a one product that's over a hundred years old,
Doree: whoa.
Kate: Yeah. Is that the way in which it has been described has been consistent the whole time.
Doree: Wow. Okay.
Kate: So even though the advertising changes and the line expands, the description stays the same.
Doree: Interesting.
Kate: And creamy is a big one. for me. I often think of tingly. And actually when I think of Noxzemaseima, I don't think of a word necessarily. I think of a smell. So if you've ever opened up a jar of Noxzema, which is now marketed as a face cleanser, it has a very distinct kind of eucalyptus menthol smell, which is what the product, which are ingredients of the product and what it is sold as. So let's get into it.
Doree: Okay. So.Take me on this journey, Kate.
Kate: Okay. Come on. This ride. So for many of us, if you're our age, Noxzema was a huge part, I think, of our upbringing. Whether or not we used the product, it was marketing.
Doree: It was ubiquitous.
Kate: Yes, it was. So it was on every TV station during any show geared toward tweens to teens in the
Doree: And magazines.
Kate: And magazines, yes. So what's interesting to me that I didn't know is that Noxzema was initially created as a product for sunburns.
Doree: Oh.
Kate: So let me take you back in time.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: We're in Maryland. Okay.
Doree: All right. Alright.
Kate: We're in an ocean city, Maryland.
Doree: I'm closing my eyes. I'm picturing this.
Kate: Yes, you're picturing seagulls, but it's like 1910.
Doree: So people are in bathing costumes.
Kate: Yeah. They're in full body striped bathing suits. Women can't vote.
Doree: Sure.
Kate: It's wild.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: But people are still getting sunburns. So there was this doctor who lived in Ocean City, Maryland, Dr. Francis Townsend was his name. And he created this concoction that he started selling to people who were vacationing in ocean city by the shore. And he introduced it as a sunburn remedy with all these ingredients, the main ones being camped for menthol eucalyptus, these things that are notoriously known to kind of have a cooling effect on the skin.
Doree: Right. Very soothing. Yeah.
Kate: Tingly, you put it on. It's same as if you put on my grandmother had Mentholatum, but there's another brand for it. Vic's Vapor Rub. Right. That same kind of feeling and smell. Yes. So the kind of origin story is a little murky
Doree: As many of these are,
Kate: Especially when you're dealing with the 1900's where they were just dudes selling jars of shit out of wagons.
Doree: Totally. Right. And taking out little magazine ads for their elixirs.
Kate: So many elixirs. So most of this is coming from Wikipedia in terms of the history of Noxzema. And when I go, when I've done other research, this is kind of the same repeated story, which is that it's a little foggy. If Townsend, this original doctor gave this formula, this product to this guy George Bunting, who was a pharmacist druggist of the time, he essentially kind of was like, no, I saw that, but I made up my own thing.
Doree: Sure, George.
Kate: Okay. But George gets all the credit. So the Bunting family, if you are looking for the people who are living off the generational wealth of Noxzema, it's the Buntings.
Doree: So, if I meet anyone with the last name of Bunting,
Kate: Have them buy you dinner.
Doree: I'll be like, you're rich. And also you probably have a closet full of Noxzema in your home.
Kate: Yeah. They live in the Noxzema estate in Maryland, right?
Doree: Yes.
Kate: Maryland is a key
Doree: Poor Francis Townsend
Kate: I know. So many of these stories start this way.
Doree: Yeah.
Kate: I mean, in my own family, we have a legend.
Doree: Someone invented the Post-it.
Kate: No, but my mom did tell me that my great-grandfather invented patent leather.
Doree: What?
Kate: My great-grandfather was, had a leather tannery, and she claimed that he invented patent leather and then his business partner took the patent.
Doree: So what you're telling me is you could have been the patent leather heiress.
Kate: Heiress. Yeah.
Doree: Wow.
Kate: I know. And instead of just regular old me
Doree: That speaks to your an entrepreneurial can-do spirit.
Kate: I must have gotten it from, Great-Grampy Clark. Anyway, back to George Bunting.
Doree: Okay. Yes. So was he also a marketing genius?
Kate: I think so,
Doree: Because, I feel like a lot of these people were,
Kate: Well, I think, you know, have to think back then. They were doing this all on their own. They were the original, their version of 2011 Instagram influencers where they're doing everything themselves.
Doree: Right.
Kate: They're creating the product, they're making it in their basements, and then they're going out and hawking it. And they're hawking it locally too, which is so impressive with Townsend selling it just in Ocean City. It's not like it was everywhere. Right. So it starts in Maryland. So I just also want to shout out the great state of Maryland, crab cakes, Orioles, and Noxzema.
Doree: Have you been to Ocean City, Maryland?
Kate: No,
Doree: I have.
Kate: Is it beautiful?
Doree: My recollection of it was that it was kind of like honky tonkish,
Kate: Probably Buntings influence
Doree: In a sort of honky tong beach.
Kate: Like a seaside town.
Doree: Seaside town, yeah. Yes.
Kate: I feel like all those seaside towns along the Atlantic coast are kind of the same.
Doree: Kind of similar, yeah.
Kate: Yeah. Rivier Beach, if you will. Sure. So we're in Maryland, it's about 1914, and Bunting starts making his own formula of this, whether or not.
Doree: That he came up with all by himself. Oh, sure. Suspiciously. Okay.
Kate: So he starts marketing it as Dr. Buntings sunburn remedy. And during this time there were a lot of products that were made of Tallow, which is essentially beef fat. And really greasy. And so I want you to pay attention to the word greasy.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: Because this comes up at the inception of the product. This was created as an alternative to the greasy, tallow based skin products of the time. And non-greasy is a phrase that is used in Noxzema marketing for decades.
Doree: Interesting.
Kate: So they get the product in terms of the selling points are the same to me it seems from day one. So eventually the name is changed to Noxzema. Now, do you know what that name is kind of a pun for?
Doree: No. All right.
Kate: Alright, get this. Again, allegedly: no eczema. Have you ever heard that?
Doree: No
Kate: I had never heard that.
Doree: Wow.
Kate: So, There's kind of like an old wive's tale that allegedly a customer came to Dr. Bunting, or excuse me, Mr. Bunting, and was like, sure knocked my eczema. So they just called it no eczema, because customers were using this on their eczema. Which is fascinating to me because I would assume Noxzema would be irritating to skin with eczema. You can understand how it'd be cooling to itchy skin. But the way we treat eczema now is products with nothing in them.
Doree: Right.
Kate: So apparently also, one of the early slogans was called, it was called the Miracle Cream of Baltimore. So eventually
Doree: A lot of Maryland pride here.
Kate: No, no. It gets better eventually. There was a Noxzema, actually Noxzema factory, that building in Baltimore, which has now become apartments. So if you live in the Fox building in Baltimore, you are living in the old Noxzema factory.
Doree: Wow. Maybe the spirit of the menthol
Kate: You mean it just smells really good.
Doree: Yeah.
Kate: And what was interesting, I found an old picture of the factory, I think before they had turned it into the fancy new apartments, and it said Noxzema, the Noxzema company. And then the slogan Feel It Heal. So this was very eye-opening to me because I always just assumed Noxzema was just a face cleanse or someone made up in like 1980. Wow. No,
Doree: You were sure you were certainly wrong. Kate
Kate: Certainly wrong. I mean, I disrespected Buntings legacy. So the product blows up, it's huge. By nine, the 1930s, about 15 million units were being sold yearly. So they keep, the Buntings, keep growing the brand, they start kind of branching out. Covergirl makeup is grown from Noxzema.
Doree: Oh.
Kate: So if you go back and you listen to old ads for Covergirl, I have one that I'll link to. I'm not going to play it today, but it will, the ad will tout Covergirl featuring Noxzema's medicated like skincare. So they play up constantly.
Doree: Oh, interesting.
Kate: The connection to Noxzema, this idea that Noxzema is this medicated healer that is a big selling point. Anytime the product is mentioned.
Doree: That is very interesting. Now, Kate, I don't mean to interrupt your flow
Kate: Now we've got to take a break,
Doree: But we should take a little break and then come back and hear more about Noxzema.
Kate: Okay.
Doree: Okay. Cause I feel like you have more to say.
Kate: Oh, I've got a lot.
Doree: Okay. BRB. Alright.
Kate: Okay, we're back. We're back. Kate's like chomping at the bit to like get to
I'm just like, I have so much to say. Do I want to talk about how, okay, so the company's doing really well and they start expanding into creating new products. So around the time that this is all happening in the fifties and sixties, they create the Noxell corporation. So Noxzema just now falls under the Noxell corporation.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: So you've got CoverGirl, they acquire Lestoil, the cleaning oil.
Doree: Oh, Okay.
Kate: And Noxzema starts branching out into they're still using it as a skin cleanser. This is kind of, from what I could track, the transformation from this being a sunburn remedy into a face cleanser is really getting pushed in the fifties and si in the sixties when TV advertising is huge. But they also start making shaving cream and Noxzema shaving cream is huge. Joe Namath.
Doree: Oh, they got Joe Namath.
Kate: Joe Namath does the ads.
Doree: Wow.
Kate: So I think what I want to do now is why don't, as we're going through the history, why don't I pause in 1965 and play you an ad that I think I watched a ton of Noxzema ads. They're all on YouTube. This one I thought kind of it's a minute long. Oh yes Doree has a question.
Doree: I have a question, and maybe you went over this and I missed it. At what point does it really become a cleanser?
Kate: So it's unclear to me in my reading, when they went from marketing it as a sunburn cream to marketing it as a face cleanser. From what I can tell, the product itself didn't change in terms of how they were making it.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: So it's my understanding that what I am, I'm holding a jar of Noxzema in my hand that obviously some of the ingredients are different because it's 2020 and we've got different additives and such, but the main ingredients are the same. We've still got Camp four menthol. They have flax oil, soybean oil, eucalyptus. So people still to this day will put this on sunburns.
Doree: Oh really?
Kate: Yeah.
Doree: Okay. Because there's no soap in it. It's not actually soap
Kate: Doree buckle up because all the advertising, so much of it, and I think it's in this commercial, they're like, it's not soap. They are pushing. It is, they have created this mythology almost around Noxzema. Like it's not soap, it's not this, it's not stripping, it's not greasy. It's its own fucking thing. And what I have kind of taken away from this, and what I kind of want to pose to you and the listeners is so much of this is just how the product, it's just the marketing.
Doree: Oh yeah. a thousand percent
Kate: And it kind of left me reeling a little bit. Okay. So let me just start with the commercial.
Doree: Okay. Okay.
Kate: I found it on YouTube. It's from 1965.
Commercial: In each of these houses, a woman is washing her face, meet the soap user. She gets her face clean, but her skin often feels tall and dry. Here's the cold cream user. She has soft skin, but her skin can feel greasy and sticky afterward. Now this lady is getting her face clean as with soap soft as with cream because she's using Noxzema skin cream. What a refreshing tingle. As Noxzema medicates, while it cleans Noxzema washes off with water because it's greaseless leaves skin soap clean, but not soap dried cream soft. But with no greasy cream leftovers and Noxzema is medicated to help heal and prevent surface blemishes. So start getting your skin soap clean yet cream soft, get tingling refreshment. See radiant results use Noxzema. It does more for your skin than any soap or cosmetic cream can.
Doree: Okay, first of all, the background music on that commercial is wild.
Kate: Doesnt it start like a thriller.
Doree: Yes. Very mysterious.
Kate: Well, and it's also creepy because you can see, if you watch it, you're looking in, you're peering into windows of women washing their faces.
Doree: Right. Super creepy and voyeuristic
Kate: And all of the commercials early on are so creepy that I watched, there's one with Sandy Duncan. Oh yeah. She was apparently a big commercial actress before she made it big. And there's a man just being like, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but your skin's amazing. And then he's like, I'm really sorry if that was weird. It's the weird, it's the fucking weirdest ad. But you can hear the words, right? Yeah. The words that are used. Yeah. These words come up over and over and over again.
Doree: Well, and I think it's really interesting that they use the word medicated.
Kate: It's constantly, even as we get to, you'll hear in the seventies and eighties, they don't change what they're saying about this product. And I don't think the formula they offer, they expand the line as all these things do to blemish pads and a deep cleaner and a sensitive skin cleaner. But the words stay the same. Okay. But what's wild is that they're shaving cream advertising geared towards men in the sixties and seventies is like sex, sex, sex. And this ad. So they had this ad that was apparently shocking. So it features this model talking buckle up, here we go. This is a shaving cream commercial from 1967.
Commercial: Men, Nothing takes it off like noxzema medicated save
Kate: Lot of real jazzy music. So he's shaving, he's shaving his face.
Doree: And what is she in the frame?
Kate: No,
Commercial: Take it off. Take it all off. Take it all
Kate: Okay, so you hear right women, it's like you got to look pretty and men, it's like you want to get laid, shave your face with noxzema.
Doree: And also, why does she have a foreign accent?
Kate: I believe she is her name is Gunilla Knutsson. So I believe she is not an American, she's a Swedish model. Doree that that's Gunilla,
Doree: Right? But I think I'm just saying, I think that's interesting
Kate: To appeal to the American men that
Doree: They would do that like this exotic Swedish model.
Kate: So that to me, the contrast between how they were marketing these different products based on the gender identity that they were trying to sell to is fascinating to me. And so again, around this time, this is the Noxell Corporation. They are doing very well, In the seventies, what was wild to me is that I found a bunch of ads that were geared towards young girls like children basically. I want you to be able to watch this. I think I'm going to try to turn my computer. Can you see?
Doree: I can. Okay. Yes.
Kate: So the ads get, they're geared towards tween and teen girls, which was interesting to me that this was happening in the early and mid seventies. So let's just take a listen to this one.
Commercial: People say, I got my good skin from my mother. They're right because it was my mom who told me about Noxzema. Good skin starts young. So I wash twice a day with Greaseless, medicated Noxzema skin cream, it gets rid of dirt and oil, cleans out clogged pores, softens and moisturizes. Mom swears by Noxzema. I'm glad I listened to her, this time. Good Skin starts Young and stays younger looking with Noxzema.
Doree: So she's like 12.
Kate: She's very young. So there's like a weird indoctrination happening.
Doree: Totally.
Kate: But what's really interesting to me is that then there's this, because Noxzema has been around since 1915 and we're in the seventies at this point, they start playing up on the nostalgia for the product, which is interesting. And I'm surprised it that hasn't happened now. So let's hear this and then we're going to take another break.
Commercial: You over 30? Me too. And my face still belongs to Noxzema. It's the moisturizer you wash with. It's cool and clean. It feels so nice next to my skin. But most important, I know I'm really cleaning and adding moisture at the same time. And isn't that a better way to wash? This face met Noxzema, when it was 15 years old, which may be why 30 feels so good. Noxzema medicated skin cream, the moisturizer you wash with
Kate: Creepy. Also, she's riding a horse. That must be why I really connected with that. Yeah. So you see what I'm getting at, right?
Doree: I do see what you're getting at
Kate: In the seventies. They're marketing to kids and then they're like, Hey, are you old now? Remember when you were young and you used Noxzema
Doree: and your skin looked so good?
Kate: Yeah. Also 30.
Doree: I'm so old. I'm 30.
Kate: Remember when I was 15? I also just want to remind you, your face belongs to Noxzema is a slogan that they had for a long time. I can still hear that in the commercials from the nineties. Go. Your face belongs to Noxzema. I dunno if that rings a bell for you. Doree, but yes. Okay, so pause.
Doree: Yeah, let's take another little break
Kate: and we'll be right back.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: So I want to take us into the era that I think we know
Doree: and love
Kate: and love for Noxzema. Oh, and I also forgot to add, okay, so in the eighties the Noxell corporation is bought by Procter and Gamble. And I don't know if this is what causes the kind of shift in their advertising, but from my research it appears they are solely now targeting with Noxzema, specifically teen girls. And the way they are advertising these products is through the lens of boys and the attention of boys. And it is so fucked up. But what I think is most fucked up is that I think things are still advertised through this lens just in new platforms. So I want to just take you through my philosophy there and then we'll break down what is in Noxzema. But let me play you this commercial from 1992 and it's two men sitting on a stoop with a basketball chatting.
Commercial: So tell me about this girl. Well, I've known her for a while, but what? It's weird. I never really noticed her. So what made you, I don't know. Now she's cute. For healthy looking skin wash with Noxzema, you can feel Noxzema tingle. As it deep cleans, it scrubs out oil and dirt won't overs strip even the leading soaps strips moisture out, leave skin tight and dry. Noxzema helps protect your skin leaving its soft and healthy looking. Do I know her? My sister. Noxzema girls get noticed.
Kate: Okay, you hear that tagline Noxzema girls get noticed.
Doree: Noxzema girls get noticed. Ooh. And okay, so you were 13 in 1992. I was 15. I mean these were formative years for us and this was the shit that was getting shoved down our throats.
Kate: And this had been going on these ads, these kind of, I mean they're all through the context of the male gaze, right? Yeah. All these ads, but it's so blatant in these they aren't even trying to hide it. And that really kind of kicks in from what I watched in the mid eighties. This kind of boys are watching you. You better not have zits.
Doree: Right.
Kate: If you want to fuck, or like, go to second base,
Doree: Whoa, I dunno,
Kate: we're just like kiss, right? So this then leads us to what I think is for us the most iconic time of Noxzema, which is the Rebecca Gayheart era.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: So Rebecca Gayheart is a model who won a modeling contest, moved to New York when she was 15 in the mid eighties, also terrifying fact started dating Brett Rattner at that age when he was a student at NYU.
Doree: Oh gosh.
Kate: I know depressing gossip tidbit for everybody there. But she becomes the face of Noxzema, like the person we refer to as the Noxzema girl. And her commercials are like, or a legend. They were everywhere.
Doree: Kate, for the benefit of our listeners who may not be familiar with Rebecca Gayheart, could you just describe what she looks like? How would you describe her?
Kate: I would say she is white. So she is a pretty white woman, but she's a little bit, she's not like the Farrah Faucet. Christie Brinkley type who, blonde bombshell, who both, interestingly enough did commercials for Farrah Faucet, did Noxzema and Christie Brinkley did CoverGirl also hilariously Meredith Baxter Bernie was a Noxzema spokesperson in the late seventies.
Doree: I mean, that kind of tracks. She has that blonde all American vibe.
Kate: So. It's not that Rebecca Gayheart doesn't have that stereo, she's a stereotypical white woman, but she's got tight, curly hair. She's stunningly beautiful. And I don't want to say natural beauty because I feel like that's such a gross term, but there's something I think both unattainable to about her. But in the commercials she comes across as relatable because the commercials have storylines. Does that kind of give you enough info?
Doree: Yes. That's some good context.
Kate: She was a very successful model who then went on to have a very important storyline on Beverly Hills 90210. Oh, spoiler alert, she dies. She was Dylan's love and she died and I'm still dealing with it. But anyway, more importantly, here's a commercial starring Rebecca Gayheart from 1993.
Commercial: Oh no, the guy from my art class. There's probably more oil on my face than this canvas. Relax, you just used Noxzema every time you wash and nothing less. Hi. Hi. It's better than soap dissolves. Oil without over drying soap, Doesn't. Interesting, huh? Hey, For healthy looking skin, your face belongs to Noxzema.
Doree: Okay, so this is basically a music video.
Kate: Yeah, it's sexy. So they're at a gallery looking at art. She sees Jake from her art class, and of course her concern, her skin looks oily, which is such a nineties concern, right?
Doree: Yes. Oh my gosh.
Kate: Imagine if someone showed up with glass skin. She wouldn't be able to, she wouldn't know what to do.
Doree: They'd be bullied out of high school.
Kate: So there are other commercials like this that have the same storyline, which is like, we're going out tonight. Who's going to be there, Tom? And then it's like, don't worry, your face belongs to Noxzema. And then the girl washes her face to sexy music and then she's confident around the crush. So all of this is through just like a nightmarish heteronormative. Male gaze. So what's interesting to me in terms of the advertising front is that this seems to eventually stop working. And the last ad that I could find was from 1998, and it's basically this girl that's like every girl wants to be a different kind of girl and then everybody washes their face with Noxzema. It doesn't, they've stopped by late nineties, it seems, from what I found, they have kind of stopped this. If you want boys to like you, you'll wash your face with Noxzema, which I think is interesting. And Noxzema eventually gets acquired, or excuse me, I think the brand Noxell gets acquired by Procter and Gamble in 2010. It's still available, it's still very popular and it still sells well,
Doree: Wait, sorry, you had said they got acquired by Procter and Gamble earlier.
Kate: Yes, in the eighties. And then it goes, they sell to Unilever.
Doree: Oh, okay. You didn't say that. I'm
Kate: I'm sorry. They sell it to Unilever in 2010.
Doree: Oh they sell to Unilever?
Kate: Yes, 2010.
Doree: Okay.
Kate: But what's interesting is like Noxzema is still all over TikTok. So I just wanted to play two contrasting TikToks. Am I running out of time?
Doree: No, you're good.
Kate: Okay, hold on. I got to pull these up. Okay, here's one.
Commercial: Let's talk about Noxzema because everyone's been asking me to review this brand and I didn't even know what it was. And now I'm quite thankful. So I'll just say this. Do not put this on your skin ever. Now there are some face washes that have fragrance that are totally forgivable because again, it's a wash off product, but when it comes to the classic cleaning, whatever this is, it is so bad for you. The fifth ingredient is fragrance, which it should be the last ingredient if it's in a product. And it also is menthol and camphor which are probably going to either burn your skin or at best give it a cooling effect that'll eventually sensitize your skin or damage it in the long run. So please, again, this is not something to be rubbing all over your face. And I know it costs like $3, but there's a reason why it costs $3. Then we have the ultimate clean daily deep pour. This is
Kate: Not okay, I'm going to stop there. Okay. So the reason I bring into TikTok is because this is where all the marketing is, right? This is where we are getting advice. There is no Rebecca Gayheart commercial that anyone cares about anymore. But what people do care about is what influencers do and are using. Here's just one other TikTok about Noxzema.
Commercial: Alright bitches, if you burn easily, stop what you're doing and watch this fucking video. So I know I'm clearly burned out the ass, but fuck the aloe shit. Fuck ice packs. All it does is help relieve the pain. You want something that helps relieve the pain and the redness to make it turn into a tan faster. So watched me to do you need to go get some Noxzema. Okay. It it's like an old lady cream. My grandma told me about it when I was like six. But the secret ingredient is it has camphor, which takes out the sting and the redness, and you put it on and the next day it's not red anymore and you just mix it until it dries and you're good. It's amazing. I like to smell it, but that's why you need to do the summer, ladies.
Kate: Okay, so
Doree: Wait, I just want to point out, this woman is very pale.
Kate: Yes. Macy the Loser is her name
Doree: And blonde, there is no way that burn she has is fading into any kind of tan.
Kate: Thats fair. She doesn't know that yet. Her grandmother didn't tell her that about sunburns
Doree: About the old lady cream that she's using.
Kate: So that video went viral. It has over 680,000 likes on TikTok. And then the person I played previously, his, or excuse me, their name, they are JC Dombrowski. They're an influencer with a lot of followers.
Doree: Don't you find it interesting though that now as a face wash, it's getting kind of like, poopoo'ed and it's getting talked up for its original
Kate: Yes, Doree. Full circle?
Doree: Yes.
Kate: Right.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: It goes viral on TikTok as a fucking sunburn remedy.
Doree: I Mean, hello, 1915.
Kate: Right? Almost over a hundred years later.
Doree: Over a hundred years later.
Kate: I thought it was fascinating.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: And what is funny to me is this is why I don't trust TikTok for anything. It's like you have this one person who's like, this is Trash. Camphor? And then this other person who's like, yes, bitch camphor. And the point I wanted to make about advertising and TikTok is that in these ads in the eighties, they were showing if you just have no zits, you'll have a boyfriend and everything will be perfect. TikTok influencers or Instagram influencers, wherever you're getting influenced, they don't come out and say it. But by showing their lives online, their perfect lives with their hot boyfriends or girlfriends or whoever, there is still the insinuation that if you just use these products and do these things, this will be your life.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: So essentially they're just savvier versions of the commercials from the eighties. There is truly no difference. We are being marketed to no matter what. Before we wrap here is what is in Noxzema. Now obviously I got to use my reading glasses. Hold on. Okay, so originally we've got Camphor, which is from a Camphor Tree. It's an oil that gets distilled, like long been used for insect bites and rub it on your chest if you have a cough menthol, which comes from peppermint or it can be created synthetically, eucalyptus, linseed oil, which is flax oil, and then soybean oil. Now I was reading, there is an article on Birdie of like, is this good for you or is this bad for you? And I think anything it depends on your skin.
Doree: Yeah, totally.
Kate: So that the oil can be nourishing. I do think it can be cooling. Like that last influencer said, and you can watch on TikTok before and after videos of people who tried Noxzema and it either cleared up their skin or it gave them a breakout. So
Doree: I mean, I want to see Macy the Loser, Marcy The Loser?
Kate: Macy the Loser.
Doree: Macy, I want to see her skin the next day
Kate: And if it actually works.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: All right, well she's,
Doree: Where's her part two?
Kate: She might have had a part two. I might not have gotten there. And I will say anecdotally, I bought jar of Noxzema and I've been using it, not a ton, but using it in the shower. And it's weird. I remember as a kid, it always kind of left this feeling like there was something on my face.
Doree: So I mean, I think you're saying that it was greasy.
Kate: I've always felt it was greasy also, did you notice how the work, none of the marketing changes, the words are the same.
Doree: Yea, that's really interesting.
Kate: It's bizarre-o. Anyway, that's my product recall on Noxzema.
Doree: Wow, Kate, you really took us on a journey through time history.
Kate: It's been emotional for me.
Doree: I can see that
Kate: The ads are wild. I will share a bunch more on our website if you just have some free time and want to watch what the fuck was going on in the sixties and seventies. And if you're using Noxzema today or if you listen to this and you're like, I'm going to go try it, let us know.
Doree: Yeah, let us know because
Kate: Because, it's in my shower, I'm using it.
Doree: Wow. Yeah. Well I guess the real test will be if your daughters use it and then you see that your skin looks like your daughters.
Kate: That's right. And also if I go to an art museum and a hot guy talks to me.
Doree: Yes. Wow. Well, Kate, this has been amazing. Thank you for taking us on our first product recall. And I will be coming at you next week with another one.
Kate: I can't wait.
Doree: Bye.